Mixosaurus

Mixosaurus with a human hand to scale

Mixosaurus was a small to medium-sized ichthyosaur, not growing more than 2 metres (6.6 ft) in total length with small species not growing more than 1 metre (3.3 ft). It possessed a long tail with a low fin, suggesting it could have been a slow swimmer, but also possessed a dorsal fin for stability in the water. The paddle-like limbs were made up of five toes each, unlike the three toes found in later Ichthyosaurs. Noteworthy, however, is that each toe had more individual bones than is usual in reptiles, and the front limbs were longer than the back limbs, both adaptations typical of later ichthyosaurs. The jaws were narrow, with several sharp teeth, that would have been ideal for catching fish.[4] They had relatively large skulls compared to their bodies, unlike the basal ichthyosaurs, but resembled fish-shaped ichthyosaurs that appeared later. They had around 50 vertebrae in front of the pelvic girdle, around twice as many as terrestrial diapsids.[5] Recent studies suggest that genus Mixosaurus may have lived near shore or in a shelf-like habitat as it possesses more compact spongy bone within its long bones than other Ichthyosaurs.[6]

There are 3 species of Mixosaurus currently recognised, Mixosaurus cornalianus, Mixosaurus xindianensis and Mixosaurus kuhnschnyderi.[7][3][8] They share many similar characteristics throughout the cranial and post cranial with the main differences morphology occurring in the dental region. Examples of the dental variation are the extent of the dental groove in the upper jaw, the shape and size of the teeth and the number of rows of teeth [2]

Previous authors assigned other species to the genus, including M. atavus (Quenstedt, 1852), M. callawayi Schmitz et al., 2004, M. panxianensis Jiang et al., 2006 and M. yangjuanensis Liu & Yin, 2008. These are now included in Contectopalatus, Phalarodon, Barracudasauroides and Nothosaurus, respectively.[9]

Mixosaurus species declared as nomen dubium, meaning the description was insufficient to fully classify them as a species, are M. maotaiensis, M. helveticus, M. timorensis, M. major, M. timorensis, M. nordenskioeldii.[7][10][11]

Mixosaurus cornalianus

Outdated M. cornalianus restoration

Many specimens of Mixosaurus cornalianus have been found from the Middle Triassic of Monte San Giorgio and the Tessin areas on the border of Italy and Switzerland.

Mixosaurus cornalianus is the only Triassic ichthyosaur for which completely articulated skeletons have been found. Many specimens have been collected but Mixosaurus cornalianus is not well studied, this is because all of the known specimens have been compressed during the preservation process.

Mixosaurus cornalianus has a sagittal crest associated with the expansion of the upper temporal fenestra. This indicates that it had exceptionally strong jaw muscles.[2]

M. cornalianus in Milan

M. cornalianus

In recent years the taxonomy and phylogeny of mixosaurid ichthyosaurs has been a controversial topic. Most recently, Mixosauridae has been separated into Mixosaurinae and the sister group Phalarondontinae. Mixosaurus contains M. cornalianus, M. kuhnschnyderi and M. xindianensis, Barracudasauroides contains B. panxianensis, Phalarodon contains P. fraasi and P. callawayi, and Contectopalatus contains C. atavus.[3][9][8]

Mixosaurids are characterised by a relatively short and wide humerus and Phalarodon are characterised by the lack of a dental groove in the upper jaw. Phalarodon fossils are found in every major Mixosaur locality.

It was suggested that Tholodus schmidi should be included in Mixosauridae but only dental material has been found so it is difficult to assign it to a genus.[7]

Cladogram based on Motani (1999),[12] Maisch and Matzke (2000),[13] and Jiang, Schmitz, Hao & Sun (2006),[7] with clade and generic names following Maisch (2010):[9]

• List of ichthyosaurs
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